JEFF EDELSTEIN: Columbus flea market reminds me of ... Thailand?

Back before we had kids, my wife and I used to spend money on travel. That’s where our disposable income went. And we saw a small chunk of the world over the years, from a handful of Central American countries to numerous points throughout southeast Asia, specifically Thailand.

In fact, Thailand — which we visited four times — is still my favorite. And one of my favorite parts about Thailand was the Sunday market in Chiang Mai. It stretched on seemingly forever, was filled with locals, and you could get anything there from soup to nuts (and bolts). (Though I should caution you on the soup. I got a bowl of soupish material once. Looked like blood. Might’ve been blood. I didn’t care for it after a few slurps, so I offered it to a street dog. The dog turned it’s nose up at it. “Must have just eaten,” I thought. As it turns out, the next dozen dogs I came upon also passed on the soup. Let the record state I spent the next 24 hours in a state of disrepair, culminating in a trip to the hospital. Only time I ever got sick abroad. Anyway …)

Anyway, that market was just … throbbing. When I think back on it, it’s in bright hues, and it’s loud, and exciting and new and thrilling. Just vendor after vendor, offering — on the cheap — anything you could possibly imagine.

Well, there’s a place in New Jersey that mirrors the experience.

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Believe it or not, it’s the Columbus flea market.

I know, I know, it’s easy to put your nose in the air when it comes to Columbus. But really: When I’m in the right frame of mind, the place just pops with experience. When I go there, I try to look at it through the eyes as a traveller. Imagining myself in a foreign land, where it’s blazingly obvious someone would be selling a classic New York Mets pennant on the same table as swords that looks like they were stolen of the set of “Game of Thrones,” which, granted, they might have been.

But really: If you’re a tourist, wouldn’t Columbus blow your mind? The food (which is worth a column to itself) to the goods to the snippets of conversation you hear just wandering about …

And even though this is New Jersey, and even though this is a flea market, and even though everyone is trying to get a good deal on both sides, the people are … no other word for it … nice. Gives the Land of Smiles a run for its money.

“People are friendly here,” said Bruce Herl of East Windsor. “You meet good people.”

I met Herl after my 5-year-old scored a pair of classic Transformers for $3. (He counter-offered $2, bless his little frugal heart, but settled for a Hot Wheels car as a throw-in.) Anyway, Herl saw the exchange go down, and then offered a high-five to my child, which my child enthusiastically returned. (A quick note: We parents normally freak out if some strange man offers our child a high-five. But really: Come on. If it happened in Thailand, I’d be taking pictures of the interaction. We all need to chill out on this score.)

“It’s just meeting a lot of people, finding stuff, a good day out,” Herl said. “And again: Friendly.”

He’s right on that count. Been to Columbus countless times, and I’ve never experienced anything that could be classified as negative.

And really: It’s just dizzying, Columbus. Like Chiang Mai West. I’m calling for some fresh eyes, people. Take it in with fresh eyes. You’ll be dazzled, and you don’t even need your passport.